This disclosure relates generally to cloud-based computing. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, this disclosure relates to a zero-knowledge approach to cloud-based document processing.
As the world's computing ecosystem evolves toward a “cloud-based” environment, more and more users (individual and corporate) will generate, edit and distribute documents on-line. At least one web-based editing program allows users to create, share and edit documents through a network. This program allows users to upload a number of differently formatted text-based documents into the system. From there, such documents are converted into the format used by the on-line editing program. Once this process is completed multiple users can work on the same document in real-time, editing content and altering the document's structure from any location with Internet access (e.g., adding text, adjusting margins, adding or changing headers and footers, and inserting or deleting pictures). When the cloud-based document is ready for publication, it may be output or exported in any number of formats such as Microsoft Corporation's Word or Rich Text format (RTF), the Apache Software Foundation's OpenOffice format, Adobe System's portable document format (PDF) or HyperText Markup Language (HTML) format. Products that enable cloud-based document preparation and/or collaboration between multiple users are implemented using a central server computer system to perform various transmission and conversion functions so that client applications, at each end-user, can view and edit document content in real-time. In doing so, the potentially highly sensitive content of these documents is necessarily exposed to the central server (that is, such systems are not “zero-knowledge”). This exposure creates a vulnerability for user privacy and system security.